Trust established to help Louisiana residents stop smoking

Any current Louisiana resident who was a smoker prior to Sept. 1, 1988, and wants to stop smoking cigarettes can now apply to be a member of a new program mandated under the Smoking Cessation Trust.

In late 2011, the final judgment in a 14-year-old class action lawsuit (Scott v. American Tobacco Company) ordered certain tobacco companies to fund a 10-year statewide smoking cessation program. The new program will benefit more than 200,000 Louisiana smokers, members of the plaintiff class referred to as the Scott Class, which is defined in the judgment as all Louisiana residents who developed a smoking habit before Sept. 1, 1988.

In 2012, the court-established and court-supervised Smoking Cessation Trust (SCT) began work to set up the cessation program as planned, using funds provided by those tobacco companies. Any current Louisiana resident can apply for membership today by completing a one-page application for benefits. The application is available online at:

Each person who is approved by the Smoking Cessation Trust as a member of the Scott Class is eligible to receive cessation medications, individual/group cessation counseling, telephone quit-line support and/or intensive cessation support services at no cost.

Evidence strongly suggests that utilizing some or all of these cessation support services can increase the success rate of smokers who attempt to stop smoking, and enable them to quit successfully.

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